82
All of Kent is shivering in the cold air, and Christmas isn’t far away.
‘I’ve told you before,’ says Donna. ‘You’re forgiven.’
‘But it was important,’ says Bogdan. ‘It was an award. What if you never win another award?’
‘Thank you for the vote of confidence,’ says Donna. ‘Here’s the basic rule: if I’m up for an award, I want you to be there – unless you’re catching a murderer by livestreaming a confession from the Instagram account of a famous television presenter. Then you’re excused.’
Carwyn Price has just been charged with threatening behaviour. Donna saw him slip a note into her bag. It read: We all hate you. You’re a joke. A man who doesn’t respond well to being turned down. Bethany, Fiona, Donna, probably countless more over the years. He’ll only get a slap on the wrist, but he won’t be back at South East Tonight any time soon.
They haven’t solved the mystery of Juniper Court though. So perhaps she and Chris had got that wrong all along?
Bogdan parks carefully. The Coopers Chase Parking Committee have lost none of their power. If anything, it has only increased after a recent failed coup. Elizabeth is going to a cliff today, and Bogdan has promised to visit Stephen. He knows Stephen will be happy to see Donna too.
Before he gets out of the car, Bogdan turns to Donna.
‘I have an award for you.’
‘You have an award for me?’
‘Sure,’ says Bogdan. ‘I feel bad.’
Bogdan reaches into a holdall in the back of the car and presents Donna with the statue of Anahita, goddess of love and battle.
‘Donna, I highly commend you.’
‘Bogdan!’ says Donna.
‘I wanted to get it engraved, but apparently you’re not supposed to.’
Donna can’t believe what she’s holding. ‘Bogdan, it was two thousand quid! We could have had two weeks in Greece for that.’
Bogdan smiles. ‘Kuldesh sold it to me for one pound. And he said to tell you to keep dodging the bricks.’
Donna looks at her statue, her award. And then back at Bogdan.
‘Why did he sell it to you for one pound?’
‘Well,’ says Bogdan, opening his car door. ‘He asked me if I was in love with you. And I said yes.’
83
Ron had suggested it, for his owns reasons, admittedly, and now here they all were. Freezing cold, that was for sure, but he was right. They stand high on the top of Shakespeare Cliff, the English Channel stretching away forever. Angry waves batter the foot of the cliff, hundreds of feet below, the noise rising to greet them like a muffled argument from a downstairs flat.
It’s not where Bethany had died, they know that now, but it’s the best place they have to drink to her memory.
Andrew Everton is keeping quiet about the whole thing. No surprises there. So they still don’t know what really happened that night. Where had Bethany gone? Where had Andrew Everton killed her? Who were the two figures in Bethany’s car as it approached this very cliff? No one had cracked the mystery of ‘Robert Brown Msc’ either. Ibrahim had driven himself half mad with anagrams.
Other questions had been answered, though. One of the guards at the prison says that Andrew Everton visited Heather Garbutt on the night of her death. He denies it, but of course he would.
And Jack Mason. Ron has thought back to their last evening together. The guilt Jack had spoken about.
They each have a single rose to throw into the sea below. Elizabeth and Joyce, Ibrahim, Mike and Pauline. Even Viktor has come down to pay his respects. They had asked Henrik, but he had said, ‘I don’t understand, I didn’t know her, why would I throw a rose into the sea?’ He had a point. Not everyone wants to be in a gang, do they?
One by one they throw their roses. Joyce’s is blown back into her face by the wind, so she has to have another go. The sky is cloudless, so if Bethany is in a position to look down, she’d see them all today. Ron doesn’t hold with that sort of thing in his head, but there is plenty of room for it in his heart.
Mike Waghorn says a few words, a number of which have to be repeated because the wind is picking up. He then suggests a little walk along the clifftop. Ron had known that he would.
‘I’ll sit this one out,’ Ron says. ‘You know what my knee’s like.’
A few raised eyebrows – they all know Ron doesn’t talk about his knees. But it shuts them up, and they are soon on their way. Pauline sits with him, as he knew she would.
‘You all right, lover?’ she asks.
‘I’m not so bad,’ says Ron. ‘Just thinking about my bathroom.’
‘You never fail to surprise me, Ronnie. You thinking about getting an air freshener?’
Ron smiles, but a little sadly. ‘Nah, just not used to having a woman around, am I? All the gear, you know, the creams, all the make-up and what have you.’
‘I’m taking up too much room, am I? You got no space for your Lynx Africa?’
‘I love it, if I’m honest,’ says Ron. ‘Feels intimate, doesn’t it? I’ve always been honest with you, you know, Pauline?’
‘I know, darling,’ says Pauline, looking concerned. ‘What’s all this about?’
‘Have you always been honest with me?’
‘Course,’ says Pauline. ‘I have the odd fag when you’re not looking, but apart from that.’
‘Robert Brown Msc,’ says Ron.
‘What about him?’
‘I know I’m not the clever one,’ says Ron. ‘But it’s about time I cracked something.’
‘Ron?’
‘It’s the make-up,’ says Ron. ‘It’s been sitting there in the bathroom all this time. All lined up under the mirror where I shave. Staring me in the face.’
Ron looks at Pauline. He doesn’t want to say it, but he has to.
‘Your mascara,’ says Ron. ‘Bobbi Brown, your favourite. Bobbi Brown Mascara. “Robert Brown Msc”.’
84
Donna and Bogdan kiss outside the car, they kiss in the hallway, they kiss by Elizabeth and Stephen’s front door. Bogdan is unused to public displays of affection. What if somebody sees? Also, he has a bag full of food that needs to go in the fridge.
But he is in love, and he accepts that will bring its own challenges. Bogdan knocks, then opens the door, calling Stephen’s name.
Stephen is sitting on the sofa in his pyjamas, which is not in the least unusual.
‘Here’s the happy couple,’ he says. ‘Look at you both.’
‘The very happy couple,’ says Donna. ‘Hello, Stephen.’
Donna is still holding her statue. Stephen levers himself up, and walks over to take a look.
‘Our old friend Anahita,’ says Stephen, his eyes lighting up. ‘Goddess of love and battle. Most appropriate.’
Donna smiles, and pops into the kitchen to put the kettle on.
Bogdan loves to see Stephen’s eyes sparkle. Loves to see that intelligence. Bogdan had seen the list that Stephen made of Henrik’s books. So detailed, so beautiful. He will give Stephen a shave later, and then a post-shave balm. Then a moisturizer. Stephen has never had a skin-care regime before – ‘Soap and water, old boy’ – but it is never too late to start. Maybe he should start giving him vitamins too? Would Elizabeth object? Just C and D to start with. He doesn’t get out enough.